The Specifics
by Hinata-hime
Summary: [AU] The Akatsuki's back, and this time, it's personal. Now, the duo has even bigger problems on their hands. How are they to deal with their own inner demons, as well as getting everyone out of this mess, alive? [SasuSaku][Sequel to The Basics]
1. Catching Up

**Starting AN: **Yes, back by popular demand (more like "SEQUEL DAMNIT!") The Basics is back! Well, sort of. As most of you can tell the title has been changed to The Specifics. Yes, the chronicles of Haruno Sakura at Sharingan continue!

But for those of you who are new to my AU world, welcome and nice to meet you! While this is a sequel, it isn't really necessary to read the first one to understand this. It might help, but whatever.

So, without further delay, here's chapter 1.

I lied. Let's have some stats (which shall only be repeated once!) on said fanfiction:

**Rating**: T – Language, violence, and suggestive themes

**Genres**: - Sequel/Mystery/Drama/Romance

**Pairing(s)**: - Well, I'm not going to ruin that just yet, but I think it's rather obvious of one…

**Disclaimer**: All characters and elements of Naruto belong to Kishimoto-sensei. The plots of The Basics and The Specifics belong to Hinata-hime.

* * *

**The Specifics**

* * *

**Chapter 1  
Catching Up**

Bleak was certainly the word to use to describe the day. Being early May, the weather seemed to copy mid-April. It was cool and crisp of a day, as the rain lightly fell from the gray sky. It made anyone want to just sleep through the day. However, Haruno Sakura was not about to let that get her down.

She never minded the rain. The light even rains meant spring was well on its way. Spring was a sign of change. And everything was changing. Just, one doesn't know when that huge change will come. Eventually it'll come.

However, things like that were meaningless right now. Sakura skipped down the stairs and into the kitchen. Her mother was preparing a sort of mystery soup. Grabbing a slice of bread, the pink haired woman looked over her mother's shoulder.

"Wow, Mom, what in the world is that?"

"Leek and bamboo shoot soup. I'm making it from scratch. It really is quite good. Want some?" the middle-aged woman asked brightly.

Sakura shook her head, all too quickly. "No, I'll just take you word for it. And anyway, I'm heading over to the Nara household now. Be back later."

Without waiting for a response (in fear she may be forced to swallow the probably less than palatable food), she hurried out of the kitchen and into the front hall. She slipped on a black cardigan and grabbed her pale pink umbrella. With that, she'd head out into the rain.

The walk wouldn't take too long. Their new house was only a few streets over. But Sakura really didn't mind. The silence gave her time to think. Nothing had to be important, but just thinking of things in general.

She sighed happily. There was so much free time now, since her school semester was over for the long summer break. And heaven knew she was going to need all the rest possible. Medical school was just a mountain of work, upon another equally big mountain of more work. But, she would be living her dream soon enough.

The rain began to let up ever-so-slightly, so she put away her umbrella. The rain was cool against her pale skin. It was rather refreshing. It was something she'd picked up from him. He liked the rain too. Habits tended to rub off on people.

Speaking of him… how long had it been? How long had it been since she'd last seen him? It was probably somewhere around a good ten months. Time sure flew. It really did. She sometimes thought back to the days in her late teens. What adventures!

At the time, she hadn't liked them too much. Watching people die was new for her. But in the end, death was a way of life. Still, it was rather unfair that someone else was to decide on when their time would come. Perhaps it was now why she'd been so bent up on becoming a doctor.

Sakura hardly noticed by that time she was standing on the porch steps of the Nara residence. She flipped back her moist and now stringy rose hair, and rang the doorbell.

Through the door, the roseate woman could hear some yelling, a crash, something that sounded like mild cursing, and a lot more yelling. She couldn't help but flinch.

The door was unlocked, and Sakura was greeted by a very tiny figure. It was a tiny girl of about two. She had short ochre hair, tied in two spots at the sides of her head. The blue-eyed toddler removed her thumb from her mouth and broke out into a wide-grin.

"Kura! Kura! Mommy!" the little girl cried, hopping in place.

Sakura broke out into all smiles as well, picking the girl into her arms. "And how is my… wow you're getting heavy. Anyway, how's my favourite, favourite of all favourite godchildren?"

Sakura closed the door and kicked off her shoes. She was always more than at home here at any rate. She walked into the kitchen, the toddler still in her arms. No one was around. Sighing, she turned off the front stove burner, as the pot was starting to boil over. "Honestly… they need to take better care…"

In a slightly louder tone, the woman called out: "Hey! Where are the parents of this little lady? They didn't disappear because they knew I was coming, did they?"

The little girl giggled, for she understood the words perfectly. For someone her age, she was brilliant. It was passed down, she supposed.

A moment later, an unusually tired looking Nara Shikamaru came from the downstairs floor. He didn't even mumble a greeting; simply nodded.

"Sorry, am I boring you?"

He shook his head, no, and took the girl from his friend's arms. "As soon as I try to sleep for just an hour, just one hour, that woman is screaming at me. Two women in the house… it's harder than you think it is."

"Ah ha! There he goes again, spouting his lies!" Ino sighed, also emerging from the basement. There was a soup ladle in her hand, probably from that pot on the stove. She brushed past Shikamaru, not forgetting to whack him upside the head with her free hand.

"Troublesome…" he looked down at the child. "And what are you smiling about? You're going to the den where you can go destroy whatever you want in your little bin there."

"Hey! Shikamaru! Don't speak to her like that! Mikoto isn't an idiot you know. Man, I'm seriously going to kill that guy one day," the blonde huffed, tossing her kitchen utensil into the already cluttered sink.

Sakura couldn't help but smirk at the whole situation. "The two of you are still so cute. Just two quarrelling lovebirds."

Ino made a noise that sounded very much like a snort. This only reminded the pink haired woman of their high school days. She called her Ino-Pig. Her snorts were half the reason. In any case, she refrained from saying it.

"Well, you can't really deny it. That **is** your love-child running around and smiling."

"Is that what she is, now? Not really how I see her."

Sakura decided on being a little more useful while teasing. She picked up some clean plates from the counter and began to put them in the proper cabinets. "Now, now. Don't go blaming others for your careless mistakes. You and Shikamaru wanted to do the deed, well, then you have to pay for the consequences. But, it wasn't all that bad, was it?"

The other rubbed her temples. The subject never ceased to stress her out. "Not especially, though I think we were both severely drunk from one of those parties. And then the next thing you know, I have a child on my hands. Just because of one night I ended up married to that lazy jerk."

"Well, it isn't that bad. You guys love each other anyway. I think it's cute. A little young to have a child, but life happens," Sakura smiled.

Ino shrugged in response. "Well, enough about me, Forehead Girl. How's your midnight romance with mystery-man who I've still yet to meet?"

It was the pink haired woman's turn to let out a chuckle. "I was actually just thinking about that. The midnight has been on hold for… quite awhile. He's going through an extremely strict career move at the moment, I'm afraid."

"Oh really. The two of you must be burning for each other. When can I expect the wedding invitation?"

"Hmm, I wonder about that. Don't hold your breath waiting for it in the near future however. We're nowhere near ready for anything so drastic."

At that moment, Shikamaru appeared back into the kitchen. "The tyrant has been taken care of."

"What's she doing?"

"A sixteen piece jigsaw puzzle."

Sakura blinked, staring at her long time friend. "That child is a genius. I wonder where she gets it from."

Ino smiled brightly. "Well obviously all the good traits come from the mother. Everything else, is the father. Isn't that right?"

Knowing better than to contest the authority of his wife, the man muttered: "I guess."

"Hey, Ino. Where do these dishes go?"

"Out there in the bottom drawer of the buffet."

With a nod, Sakura left for the other room. Rummaging through some things, she'd found room in the location Ino had indicated. Before closing it, however, she got lost in thought.

The young couple hardly acted like a couple at all. In fact, it was like two of the same sides of the magnet. They were just screaming to repel. There were hardly kindly gestures of gratitude, no words of undying love, and certainly no display of affection in public. But despite all that, upon gazing from a distance back into the room where they stood, it didn't take a rocket scientist to see the chemistry that was there. The devotion and the love. Not in actions or words; but it just was always there.

It made her think unnecessarily about her current relationship. What relationship? True, not everything was worth writing in a romance novel, like the ideal happy ending was supposed to be. But it'd been awhile now that she'd begun to doubt anything was there in the first place.

There were never quiet words of affection, not at least by him anyway. He wasn't the type to do such things. There was also nothing remotely unique about his gestures towards her, save an unusual and genuine smile from time to time. And now that she thought about it, there certainly wasn't any sort of physical displays of affection, minus the greeting and parting peck on the lips.

After five years, she thought something might have changed between the two. Though, it might as well have been two months. It had seemed that way, in any case. She'd seriously begun to doubt if he trusted her the least bit. Or maybe that wasn't it. Maybe… she was just kidding herself in the first place.

"Sakura! How long does it take to put a plate away?" Ino's voice broke her train of thought, that was spiraling downwards at a very high speed. She telepathically thanked her for that.

"Ah, sorry! I'm coming!" Sakura called out, returning to her cheerful demeanor. With a shake of her head, she let her troubles go. The ten months of separation was obviously making her think way too much. Perhaps she'd visit her second home at Sharingan in the near future.

* * *

Later that evening, Sakura had decided on returning home. Where she'd go instead? Who knew. Perhaps wander around until three in the morning. That was always good. But, then again, she had nothing to keep herself occupied until then.

She fished out the keys that were located in the depths of her Capri-cargo pants. "I'm home," she called out. No one answered. That was odd. Her mother should have been home. Well, unless there was an emergency at the hospital. Maybe that's where she should have gone. But then again, she didn't exactly feel like doing the medics' paperwork again.

With a sigh, she decided to step through the kitchen, which was a slight shortcut to the stairwell leading to her bedroom. She nearly jumped out of her skin upon finding someone, back turned to her, hovering about the microwave. The tall man turned around. He had a head full of pure gray hair, and very distinct aging lines down the length of his face.

Her fist tightened unconsciously at the sight of the familiar figure, but suppressed her emotions well. "Hello, Father. I didn't know you'd be home. How's work been lately?"

The man continued to stare impassively through the dark blue orbs, which were slightly more sunken than most people. "Where's that woman?"

Of course. He had no interest in what his only daughter was asking. She tried to be sociable, really, she had. But this man… whom she even called 'Father', was just—no, she refused to think like that. Family was family. No matter what kind of person he was. Swallowing the spite that threatened to spill from her mouth, she gave an extremely forced and weak smile. "I have no idea where **Mother **is at the moment, sorry. Are you planning on staying long?"

He went back to his business, taking out the plate of food from the microwave. After another moment, he still hadn't answered. Sakura just gave up in trying, and trudged up the stairs.

She threw open the door to her still pink room. Honestly, she thought out in slight disgust, it really was as if nothing had changed. The very thought was frustrating to no end. It was so to the extreme, that despite the time being only ten thirty, Sakura had fallen fast asleep.

* * *

Morning had come, and just judging by the sun that shown through her bedside window. Sakura rose to her feet, stretching while doing so. She could just sense it. Something good would happen.

She quickly got changed and headed downstairs. The house was quiet, much like it usually was. There was a note on the kitchen table. Her mother had left early for work, yet again. Well, that wasn't anything new. Grabbing her usual slice of bread and chugging a glass of orange juice, she headed out for her day.

But what to do? The woman sighed. She didn't really want to bother the Nara family, as she'd already done so the day before. Maybe she'd visit the hospital anyway. She'd already made some friends among the residents, and some other med. school students.

The building was on the far side, however. It was about a good half-hour walk. But, she was up for it. Because, of course, something good would happen. So, with a hum, she set off on her route.

Despite the glorious weather, there was no one on the streets. The pink haired woman looked at her watch. Well, it was only nine. And a weekday. Everyone must have had better things to do. "Well, whatever then," she said quietly to herself.

After awhile, it began to get eerie. Where had all the birds gone? Her pace slowed slightly, but not quite stopping. All she heard was the soft steps of her own feet against the battered concrete sidewalk. In the distance, a short while later however, her ears caught wind of the sound of an approaching car engine. For the time being, she chose to ignore this.

But, the sound of the car horn made her jump. Whirling around, she noted the car was parked just a few meters behind her. Curiosity getting the better of her, she wandered over to the vehicle, and peered into the open window. Her emerald eyes widened.

"Sasuke!" she exclaimed in honest surprise.

The man in the front seat simply smirked, taking off his dark shades, revealing the onyx orbs of Uchiha Sasuke. With a motion of his head, he muttered a: "Get in."

Sakura did as she was told, and hopped into the passenger side of the navy-coloured sports car. At first, the drive was silent, only the hum of the road was heard. She was in the midst of trying to sort out her words carefully. The other seemed to be waiting on her reaction.

"It's been awhile, hasn't it, Sasuke?"

Keeping his eyes on the road, he answered: "Aa."

She was used to his close-ended conversations by now. "I'm…well, surprised. What are you doing here?"

"I was in town. Thought I'd drop by."

Sakura laughed. "Right. You were in town with the load of work you have as President. That's good. Now, what are you really doing here?"

The Uchiha chuckled, and glanced over. "I'm out secretly, actually. It's been awhile, so I wanted to see you again."

The comment made Sakura's face flush. She hadn't expected those words to ever leave the mighty Uchiha Sasuke's lips. Tearing her gaze away from his enticing onyx eyes, she starred in front of her. And for a moment, her blood ran cold. "Sasuke!"

With ultra-sharp reflexes, the Uchiha stepped hard on the brakes. The vehicle stopped almost instantly, missing the speeding car running a red light by mere inches. "What the hell?" he demanded, extremely pissed. With a frustrated growl, he opened the door and stepped outside his stopped car.

The pink haired woman was going to reprimand her companion. He couldn't just stop and get out of the car in the middle of an intersection. But then, gazing around, she noted no other cars were actually on the road. Strange…

In turn, she stepped out of the car. "Sasuke?" she said hesitantly. Only, the man in question was no longer around. Slightly puzzled, she looked around. Where the heck could he have gone, leaving his prized car (and not to mention his woman) just like that. Off on the opposing street corner, she saw him, talking to another woman.

Upon moving in closer, she recognised this said female as her long-time friend Hyuuga Hinata. "What's Hinata doing here?" she wondered aloud.

Her thoughts were once again cut short by the soft rumble of thunder. So much for a nice day. Light drops of rain were beginning to fall from the heavens. Maybe she'd wait in the car for him to finish whatever business he had.

She turned on her heel, and began to walk slowly. But someone brushed past her, forcing her to stop. It was another very familiar figure. "Hey! Sakura! Hurry up, it's raining. Don't want to get caught in a storm, do you?" Uzumaki Naruto joked, running off to shelter.

Before she could take another step, Tenten ran past her. "Jeez, Sakura, you're such a slow poke!"

She began to wonder where all these people were starting to appear from. But what was the more pressing problem, was the fact that her legs no longer seemed to respond to her wishes. She wanted to call out to the people that kept on passing by her one by one, but they'd constantly cut her off, and run away shortly after that.

Many people later, she was beginning to get scared. Having no more strength in her legs, she'd collapsed to her knees. Tears of frustration threatened to fall from her lashes. What was going on? Hinata had just passed her, giving an apologetic smile, and scurrying off.

The last figure strolled by her. Forcing everything she had left in her, she'd called out his name. "Sasuke!"

The man stopped in his tracks, and turned to face her. At least he seemed to hear. He smiled slightly, and held out his hand, waiting to help the girl up. With a relieved sigh, she outstretched her own hand to take up on his offer. That is, if only her arm would listen. So there she knelt, on the cold and wet road, staring helplessly at the man in front of her.

After a moment, he frowned. "You don't want to? Fine then." With a cool glare, he shoved his hand in his pocket and continued to stride away.

"No! Wait, please!" she wanted to call out. But her voice was lost. The world around her was crumbling. The air became hard to breathe. What was this sensation? It was suffocating. After awhile, it became almost impossible to breathe at all.

Her heart was pounding wildly. Death? Did this feel like death? Was she dying? She was beginning to lose the sensation of the cold rain on her face, and slowly plunge into darkness. Everyone… had gone. Where? Why? She struggled to stay conscious, but to little avail. In a desperate thought, she managed: '_Please. Someone…'_

* * *

Sakura woke with a start, her face moist with perspiration. "A dream?" she said aloud. With a quick glance at the clock, she noted the time. It was nearing two in the morning. From downstairs, she could hear the faint arguing of two voices. She assumed her parents. 

But really, what had that been about? Usually, her sleep was dreamless. So all of a sudden, why had this appeared?

Listening to the incoherent words of her bickering parents, Sakura stuffed her head into the white pillow she'd been lying on. This time, a lone tear had escaped her eye. Why? She didn't know. But it just seemed appropriate.

The ringing of her mobile phone startled her. When she glanced at the called ID, she dried her face and inhaled, to sound normal. She flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Sakura?" questioned the voice of Hyuuga Hianta.

"Yeah, I'm here. What's up?"

There was a pause on the other end. "I'm s-sorry to bother you at this time… but… Well, we're having a little situation here, that's a little stranger than normal."

Sakura wanted to respond with an: I'll say! But instead, opted for a question. "Oh? And what's that?"

"Well…it's Kiba. He… came back from investigating and became ill. But, an odd kind of ill."

"What kind of ill?"

"The doctors here say t-typhoid fever."

The pink haired woman paused. "Are you sure?"

"Y-yes. I know it's weird, because you shouldn't get it here. He's alright, just constantly sleeping now. But… while he slips in and out… he mumbles… _Akatsuki_."

Yet another pause. Sakura wasn't quite sure what was going on. Drifting thoughts, odd dreams, and now this. Akatsuki. After all these years? Something was definitely up. Pushing the doubts temporarily from her mind, she instructed: "Send a train. I'll be up there shortly."

* * *

**AN:** Too much pressure to write this. Well, honestly I can say now that updates will follow no specific timeline. I'm a little stressed in respect to many things right now, so with a little patience (and maybe a little inspiration from the anime in February) the rest shall come along. Until then, drop me a line saying how you liked it! 


	2. Help Wanted

**Starting AN**: Yes. I know. A month. It's school's fault. This chapter… eh, well there's not much to say. I'm not a hundred percent happy with how it turned out, but I can't stay on chapter 2 forever, or I'm never going to finish this story.

But on a lighter note, I was so happy to see that people (especially reviewers) were going to stick with this story too! So, you all get your names mentioned here, because you're all so cool!

**tidusXyuna637, Poison's Ivy, 2supersmart, honoring death, iFo0l, animevivverz, animemistress419, Yukina101**(unfortunately I don't live very close to NYC, so I passed on the convention), **xoxogreenxox, lilxcutexmonstah**(haha, thank you? XD)**, Girl of Light Writer, black-ravenangel23**(oh no, murdering someone isn't cool!), **charmed1s-halliwells, crescent moon at midnight, Winter's Holly**(oh no, I apologize for the near heart attack! -bows-), **Kawaii IceCream**(yes, it was quite a time skip. Five years I think. And more on Mikoto will come later. Oh, and I'll check out your story when stupid school gives me a break…), **rebel-girl**(whoa, you're getting ahead of me with the Akatsuki… but I'll let you know I like Deidara -hint hint-), **nothing but blue, o.O, hunterchan**(thank you for the offer… but I already have a beta -bows-), **Acea Rukojou, isa18, clueless-gal, narutoharvester**

* * *

**Chapter 2**  
**Help Wanted**

* * *

Truthfully, she'd never once visited the infirmary wing at Sharingan. It had been in the basement of the factory side of the building. It was quite late (or was early the better word?) when Hinata had arrived with Sakura. 

"Are you sure you don't want to sleep first?" Hinata had asked, yawning. Well, it was five in the morning.

"No, it's fine. I'll be up after I go see Kiba," Sakura replied. She reassured her friend with a nod, and they parted ways.

So there Sakura stood, outside the single bed room, staring into it. The whitewashed walls certainly made the room all the gloomier. At least they could make it look like you'd get better. Not dying and being placed in a morgue. Mentally sighing at her grim state of mind, she entered the room.

"Kiba…" she called out softly, just to make sure he was awake. The bed was behind the normal long white curtain, but due to the lighting, she couldn't see anything on the inside.

There was some shuffling, before a mumbled, "Yeah," was heard. Taking this as permission to in fact see Kiba, Sakura pulled back a side of the curtain.

He was awfully paler than she remembered. His face was almost as white as a sheet, and his dark eyes seemed more sunken in than usual. But, of course, she'd expected that. His illness was no joke, after all. "You look well…" Sakura commented, trying to lighten up the mood. Well, as light of a mood it could get for the early hours of the morning.

"Thanks…" was the only thing he replied. Strange, though. The Inuzuka man was usually on the talkative side. Either that or sarcastic. But, again, hospitals really drain a person.

"I mean it, though. You aren't contagious anymore, a nice plus for me, and you're not going in and out of sleep. Everyone's glad you're okay. But… if you're up for it, do you mind telling me about what happened before the… err, incident?"

Kiba stared up at the ceiling for a moment, seemingly debating on whether or not to answer the question. "I don't quite remember exactly. Shino and I were… investigating some more leads to the Akatsuki and… I don't know. Next thing I know, a few days later, I'm sick as a dog."

Getting tired of standing, Sakura pulled up a stool and sat right up to the bed. "Sorry if this sounds like an interrogation… But can you remember where exactly you were? What you were doing?"

"Where I was I didn't know. We were investigating… oh, I remember. We were investigating the Void Ring."

Sakura blinked once, and got up from her seat. "I see…" she said quietly. Kiba kept his eye on her for a moment, noticing she'd grown rather silent, but turned away a little later. Ever so discretely, she pressed the nurse aid button. "Just…one last question."

Silence filled the tiny room once again, until the Inuzuka turned his head back to face the pink haired woman. Slowly, he propped himself up to sitting position before answering. "Aa."

Sakura remembered the Void Ring. It had been something they'd been investigating as of lately. Over the past five years, the investigation team's task had shifted to bringing down the Akatsuki organization. Apparently, it was discovered that those in high-ranking positions wore a special ring. Each was different from the other. The Void Ring had been one of these. It was currently being investigated by Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten. And they had kept this information to themselves, other than informing the President directly. This is where she'd found out and how she was kept in the loop about what exactly was going on at Sharingan.

So, using brilliant powers of deduction in seeing that Inuzuka Kiba was not Neji, Lee, or Tenten, she'd supposed that he should have known nothing about the Void Ring at all. She proceeded to tell him all of this, watching his face for any signs. What signs?—she didn't know exactly. "So you see, Kiba, you shouldn't have been investigating the Void Ring. But answer me this. How did you know about it in the first place?"

Kiba's face had remained unnaturally calm during her small rant. So calm, basically to the point of out-of-character. And… that odd glint in his dark eyes hadn't been there a second ago. "I guess you caught me then. I had a feeling you were smarter than you looked the first time we met."

Before Sakura could ask what he was talking about, she'd been pinned to the wall, a large hand around her neck. "Ki…ba…" she tried to breathe out, but to no avail. The chokehold was too strong. Struggling as much she could, Sakura managed to take a swipe at his face. It felt rather material-like. Skin didn't feel like that.

"You had to expect, then, that I wasn't really this Inuzuka Kiba man, now didn't you?" Kiba, who was then apparently not really Kiba at all, pulled off a skin-tight mask. Didn't this only happen in the movies? But Sakura didn't really have time to think about that, given the current lack of air.

Her face paled when she saw who it really was. "You…" she tried to sound out, "Uchiha… Itachi…" Sakura began to struggle more when she heard several footsteps drawing near at a fast pace. If only there'd been a way to warn them not to come. She'd just seen him take out a gun out from under that hospital shirt. Earlier she'd pressed the aid button for some backup, at that point knowing Kiba wasn't who he'd appeared to be. But she never imagined it'd turn out like this.

"What the… you!" Tenten exclaimed, being the first person in the room.

Sakura didn't have the air capacity to scream when her friend was shot point blank in the head. She willed the others. Don't come, please don't come. But what good was useless telepathy?

It was only a matter of a couple seconds before many others rushed in. Itachi held up his gun, glaring over at the group momentarily frozen in shock. "If you don't want to end up like that one," he said this waving the firearm in the direction of the brunette he'd shot, "then I suggest you wait until I'm done killing this one. That includes you, Little Brother."

Sakura hadn't noticed Sasuke standing amongst her other friends. His jaw was clenched tighter than usual, but in the end, he remained standing in place. That was it? He wasn't going to try helping her? Sasuke, who she knew loathed his older brother with every cell of his body, was going to stand there and watch her die?

Her consciousness was slipping fast. White spots began to cloud her vision. No, this wasn't right. It wasn't right at all. What was happening? Tears had long ago been spilling from her emerald eyes, but it seemed to do no good. She was actually going to die. And all the people whom she knew, trusted, even maybe considered as a second family, were just going to watch.

* * *

With a jolt, Sakura sprung up from her lying position. It was dark. Quite dark. But at least she was breathing—heavily, but breathing nonetheless. Her face was slightly moist as sweat cooled off her burning forehead. It had taken her a moment to realize what was going on. 

"Another dream?" she said aloud, as her eyes adjusted to the darkness of her room. Slowly, some things came back. Hinata and her had come back to Sharingan. But it being the hour it was at the time, the two opted for sleeping.

She threw the comforter off the bed, and walked over to the window, currently covered by her thick blinds. As the sunlight poured in, she squinted her eyes shut. It seemed already about noontime. With a sigh, she slumped against the wall, putting her right palm to her head.

Two (scary might have been a slight understatement) dreams in the span of less than a day. Sakura wasn't one to believe myth over science, but there was something that irked her about the nature of her thoughts. Where had the notion of her dying ever occurred? And what was with the passiveness of her friends? Certainly, that was quite out of character. And…Uchiha Itachi? Just what was going on?

She decided to push the troubling thoughts to the back of her mind at the moment, and actually go to see Kiba. The real Kiba. Not a dream or fake. But that still had been pretty scary.

After freshening up and getting dressed, Sakura walked out towards the common room. There, she found Hinata around a computer, and also Naruto on the sofa watching a television show. "Hey, hey, Naruto. Don't you have a job to do instead of watching TV?" she said with mock disgust.

Uzumaki Naruto's head shot up at the sound of her very familiar voice. "Sakura!" he exclaimed, bright blue eyes brightening. He got up and pulled the pink haired woman into a tight embrace. "It's been almost forever since you've been back! Hooray!"

Sakura laughed at Naruto's antics. He was just too cute. The blond released her, and went to turn off the television. "I'm just glad to be off exams. They went well, since I'm glad you asked," she said rather sarcastically, "But the actual reason I'm back was to see how Kiba was doing."

He gave his usually boyish grin. "I was down there this morning. He's feeling A-okay. Better than a few days ago anyway."

"Glad to hear. But I'm still going to see him. I didn't travel early in the morning for nothing. Ready Hinata?"

The once silent girl looked up from her trusty laptop screen. "Y-yes!"

The two females waved goodbye to Naruto, who offered to finish up whatever work Hinata had been previously doing. During the descent down the elevator, the Hyuuga female asked her question that'd been bugging her for the past few moments. "U-um, Sakura, are you alright? You look a l-little pale…"

The pink haired girl gave her usual disarming smile. "I'm fine, really. But thanks for asking."

There were no more words exchanged between the two as the walked across the lobby to the factory side of the building. 'So Hinata noticed after all. But I don't want to bother her…' Sakura thought, throwing her green eyes to the floor.

Upon reaching the actual infirmary, Sakura was glad it wasn't all whitewashed like she'd dreamed. In fact, Kiba's room was a pale blue, and had decorative lights placed on the ceiling. There was also no screen hung up around the bed.

And thankfully, he'd looked a lot healthier than she'd imagined. In fact, he was the one who started up the conversation. "Sakura. Hinata. It's been awhile. What brings you along to visit down the dreary depths of the beloved company?"

At least it sounded more like Kiba. She was getting paranoid now. "I wonder, hmm?" Sakura replied smartly.

"Well, now that I'm in the company of two beautiful ladies, I feel well enough to get out of here and move around again," the male said with a toothy grin.

He was about to spring out of bed, when Hinata rushed over and pushed him back down. "Oh, Kiba, the d-doctor said you can't. Rest for at least one more day!" It had been her best attempt at scolding someone. It hadn't had much punch, but it was enough to cause Kiba (although grumbling) to lie back down.

"Anyway, since you're nice and comfortable now, mind me asking you some questions about… well, this incident?" Sakura said, a déja-vu replaying through her mind. Kiba shrugged in reply. "Okay, well, can you tell me where you were shortly before?"

He put a pale claw-like hand to his chin, in a thinking position. "Hmm. Well, I know we were in the small town outside where the Akatsuki headquarters is supposedly located. Uh, we were also at a nearby bar meeting an informant." He paused for a second to look over at the pink haired woman. "You know, you can come closer instead of standing way over there. I'm not contagious anymore, nor am I going to bite."

Sakura nodded, and took a hesitant few steps forward, not appreciating the ironic humor in his little joke. "Right. And this informant?"

"Never seen the guy before. Long brown hair, and he kept a black hat on all the long. Had these big round glasses too. Weird guy."

"And what did you talk about?"

At this question, he winked and put a finger over his lips. "Secret, dear. It's all in the log file. But I'm sure by persuading the President enough you'll be able to retrieve that on your own."

"I see. Well, Kiba, I think you'd ought to rest up now. Got to be healthy tomorrow, right? You coming, Hinata?"

The second female in the room looked up from her hands. "U-um, maybe I'll keep him company a little longer. Why? What are you doing?"

Sakura was on her way out the door, but turned quickly on her heel to reply. "Where else? To go persuade the President to get me that case file. See you two!"

* * *

Sakura twirled her fingers around the cord of her room phone. Truthfully, she really didn't know if calling Sasuke was a good idea at the moment. She'd heard he was in the middle of a big business deal with… some company she'd never heard of. But like he needed any more money. 

Maybe he'd already forgotten about the hidden room worth about half the world's money that was rightfully his.

In any case, she'd mustered up the courage to call him in the middle of the day. Currently the phone was ringing, but if he'd pick up was another story. With each passing ring, she grew less and less confident. He'd probably be mad at her for pestering him about something so insignificant. Wait, no. That wasn't right. He wasn't like that.

Right before Sakura was about to hang up, there was a noise on the other end of the line. "What?" Uchiha Sasuke's irritated voice sounded through the receiver.

Swallowing the lump in her throat (she swore that hadn't been there earlier), she uttered a cheerful: "Sasuke?"

"Oh…" was his instant reply. He hadn't checked the caller ID, and assumed it had been Naruto, or possibly Tsunade. He felt kind of bad for the forceful greeting (if it could be called a greeting at all) to the girl he hadn't seen in just under a year. But, nor was he one for apologies. And he certainly wasn't about to start now. "What's up, Sakura?"

Well, he hadn't seemed upset anymore. "Oh, you know, things are happening here and there. It's kind of weird hearing your voice after so long."

There was a pause. Sasuke wondered how to respond to that statement. When in doubt, in which case he was, he used his all-inclusive answer: "Aa."

Right, Sakura concluded, he wasn't in a conversing mood. Well, he was never really in a conversing mood, but probably especially at the moment. "Um, did you hear about Kiba? I came to see how he was doing."

"Yeah, I heard. But he'll be fine."

"Ah… yes, he's getting better, thankfully. You think it's the Akatsuki at work again?"

"Probably."

Wow. Something must have been on his mind. Sakura knew how the topic of the still rather secret organization affected him. However, he seemed indifferent at the moment. She'd best wrap up their little chat soon. Soon… meaning now. "Um, right. Listen, you sound busy, so we'll talk some other time. But, can I ask one small, tiny, super unimportant-to-you favor?"

There was no hesitation in his reply. "Sure."

"Great. Kiba and Shino's case log from their last case. I'd like to go over it." That sounded too demanding. "Please?"

"Fine. I'll send it to your computer in a moment."

She smiled, though he couldn't see it. "Thank you, Sasuke. Anyway, it was nice talking to you, but I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing. Hang in there, alright?"

Before he could add in something else, she placed the phone back on the hook. Sakura glanced at it a moment longer, before staring at the floor. There was a feeling that had resurfaced upon her last visit to the Nara household, and it was back again. What emotion was it, she couldn't tell.

In any case, she'd best see if that case file had come in. She was going to need a lot of time to skim through it.

* * *

At around nine that evening, Sakura was back in her hometown. However, she wasn't going home. Truthfully, she hadn't wanted to. Her father was probably still lurking around somewhere, and he was the last person she needed to see at the moment. 

She knocked on the wooden door in front of her. After a good pause, the door was opened. There stood Ino, baby-blue eyes showing surprise. "Oh, Sakura. What are you doing here at this hour?"

The pink haired woman smiled. "It's kind of complicated. Can I come in?"

"Yes, yes, of course." Ino ushered her into her home quickly.

Sakura threw her coat on the hook in the small front foyer. Silently, she made her way to the kitchen, where she sat down at the small square table. After looking from side to side, she asked: "Where's Shikamaru?"

"Upstairs. Mikoto was crying not too long ago. But it seems she's fine now…"

As if being telepathic, Shikamaru came down the stairs at that moment. He didn't speak a greeting, just took a chair opposite Sakura at the table. Ino, in turn, did the same.

"So, something happen where you work, Sakura?" Shikamaru asked. Why was he always right? He certainly could read people like they were open books.

"Yeah… nice guess. I actually… have a small favor—no, a big favor to ask."

The married couple continued to stare at her. "Favor?"

Actually, Sakura had her doubts about the plan, even though she'd originally proposed it. She'd gone to Tsunade (now the vice president once again, since the Uchiha son was now rightfully in charge) to go over a plan she'd created after fully reading Kiba and Shino's case file.

"You want to WHAT?" the blonde woman had asked, and none too quietly either. She was surprised no one else in the building hadn't rushed in, asking what was happening.

"That's right. We need someone to go undercover at the Akatsuki. And it can't be someone from the company, since Uchiha Itachi must have records of all employees. And those guys are super smart. So it has to be a civilian," Sakura had said, face calm and collected.

There was a sort of staring contest between both women. "You're insane. No one would take the job. It's too risky. I'm not allowing it."

"Don't be like that, Tsunade, please. I know it's dangerous. But…I think I know someone who might be perfect for the job."

That's what she'd said. But now, seeing the small Nara family, she wasn't sure if she could bring herself to ask.

"Sakura, what is it?" Ino asked, concerned at her friend's silence.

"I, well… have a proposition for Shikamaru." This was it, she was going to say it: "I… we, at my work, would like you to go infiltrate another corporation."

Shikamaru remained silent, but his wife stood from her chair. "Infiltrate a company? Whoa, what? Wait a second! What kind of place are you working for? Isn't that illegal? You're not doing this, are you? Sakura, how can you ask something like that of him?"

Sakura cast her eyes downwards. Of course Ino would overreact. In fact, she probably didn't mention working for anyone, other than the local hospital as per medical school requirements. "I know. But we're at the end of our rope here. It's… rather complicated, and I'm not sure how to explain it."

After a moment of silence lingered through the kitchen, Shikamaru sighed. "What is it I have to do?"

His wife turned her head sharply. "Shika?"

Sakura removed a thick file of paper from her white purse across the table. He brunet leafed through the pages quickly. "I don't know how long it'll take. But it'd be a great help. These people aren't exactly ones you start a pleasant conversation with in the middle of a street or something. And, one more thing." Fumbling through the contents of her bag once again, she pulled out a rectangular slip of paper. "If you take the offer, please take this as well."

The surprise on the Nara couple's faces was evident. "W-what? Seriously? Two million bucks? Sakura, where did you get this kind of money?"

Ino looked like she was going to continue her chain of questions, but a hand on her shoulder caused her silence. "I'll do it."

Both females turned towards the man in question. "What?" they asked simultaneously.

"You're serious?" Ino asked, in disbelief. Sakura couldn't quite believe he'd agreed so soon either, but didn't say anything in response to this.

"Well, troublesome as it may be, that sum is worth more than I'll make in twenty years. And, while it's not a pressing issue, the money would do our family good."

Ino just stood there, completely at a loss. She really felt out of the loop, and somehow had a feeling things weren't going to get explained any time soon.

"Um… okay then. I wasn't expecting you to reply so soon, if at all. But that's great, thank you, Shikamaru. But, you do have to be aware of the risks that come with this job. I mean, this organization…"

"I get it, Sakura. But it's alright. If anything…" Both women couldn't remember the last time Shikamaru had actually, full-heartily, smirked. "This should prove interesting."

* * *

**AN: **Slightly OOC Shikamaru there. -hits head on desk- But oh well. Shika needed to go. Fear not, though, for he'll be back in a little bit. And just for future reference, the dreams are a recurring theme. Well, for the beginning portion of the story anyway. I really need to start looking at my story plan. It would really help with all the stuff coming up. Yes. Packed with plot these next few chapters will be. 

On another random note: Naruto Shippuden made my life ten times better. Watching the first three episodes really did get my Naruto interest back. Oh, and the recent manga events. But for those who don't read it, I won't say anything.

Anyway. Chapter three is up next (no kidding…). Some reflection, some more bad news, and what's this? A new character?


	3. Conflict Resolution

**Starting AN**: Oh no. I've left all you poor reviewers for over a month! I'm so sorry! What took me so long, I really don't know. It was probably a combination of ridiculous amounts of school work, me being away, and the fact that I finished watching 2 whole Taiwanese drama series (which I totally don't regret because those things are awesome). Anyway. Enough of my useless life and onto the chapter! Again, thanks to all who reviewed. You all get… um, a shred or my love!

* * *

**Chapter 3  
Conflict Resolution**

* * *

Sakura's walk home seemed longer than it should have. Perhaps it was because she'd been walking at a moderate pace, or her thoughts had just made time seem to move all the slower. In either case, when she reached the front door, she was anything but in a good mood. She could only imagine what her face looked like at the moment. 

Sluggishly, she fished out her keys out of the deep pocket of her faded jeans. "I'm home…" she said to the empty house.

At least, it was supposed to be empty. Walking into the kitchen, Sakura found her father reading the daily paper. A plate of food and a cup of tea sat in front of him, completely untouched. She didn't understand what the man was still doing here. It was night number three. That was practically his record, or at least from the memories she could recall.

What were the chances, she wondered, that she could pass through unnoticed upstairs? It was worth a try. Unfortunately, things didn't quite go as planned. "Where's that woman?" her father asked, before she was halfway across the kitchen.

Sakura sighed, and looked back at the table. It seemed as if he hadn't even lifted his head. She couldn't help but sigh. "Mom has a job, you know. She can't wait on you, hand and foot, just because you decide to come home every so often."

There was no pause before he posed the next question. "Where have you been for the past few days?"

Sakura turned around fully this time. Where had that question come from? "I'm twenty-two, Father, I can take care of myself."

"That wasn't what I asked."

Sakura frowned, and before she could bite her tongue, words began spilling from her mouth: "Since when did you care? You can't just show up again and run the household. I don't have to answer anything."

This time, her father lifted his head. His eyes looked quite deadly, standing out because of his gray hair. Sakura unconsciously took a step back. "Young lady, while you live under this roof, keep in mind who's paying the bills. And like it or not, I am your father."

"Well maybe I'd see you more as a father if you'd have spent more time at home rather than elsewhere, most likely sleeping around." After saying those final words, her set of green eyes widened. That had always been a fleeting thought on her part, but she never meant to say it. In any case, the comment had silenced them both. There was absolutely no noise within the household.

Ashamed of her words, a moment later Sakura had turned on her heel and dashed up the stairs and into her bedroom. Once she'd closed the door, she slumped to the floor. "What have I done?" she whispered to herself. Not only had she more-or-less torn apart the new Nara family, but she was messing up hers as well. What a day.

* * *

The next morning, Sakura woke up with a start. Frantically, her eyes darted around her room. She was sure she experienced another one of those odd dreams. Only this time, much to her relief, she couldn't remember it. 

Sakura was a strong believer in logic. While the fantasy life and surrealism was something that interested her greatly, logically, things of that sort didn't happen. So when coming down to the subject of believing in messages in dreams, usually she'd laugh it off. Dreams were just fragments of the imagination.

So why did this seem like something more?

Whatever it was, it was clear to her that the current chain of events was clogging her head with useless thoughts. She figured a trip to the hospital (volunteering was a requirement for medical school students) and see what was happening there. It wasn't as if she was needed back at Sharingan.

She dressed in army-green cargo pants, and opted for a white sleeveless top. She grabbed her usual items, including her cherry flip-phone, keys, a change pouch, and her usual screwdriver, and threw them into a white handbag. With a confident nod of her head, she proceeded down the stairs.

Much to her relief, the house was empty. Where her mother was?—she didn't quite know. Her mom was prone to disappearing for days at a time, more so when Sakura wasn't home on a regular basis. She couldn't blame her mother either. Being alone in a house was well… lonely?

Her father didn't seem to be around. Truth be told, Sakura didn't feel like seeing him anyway. Their conversation hadn't been one of the best they'd had. Though, thinking about it, they never did talk much—ever. Still, she had no idea how to act if she saw him again. Or _when_ she'd see him again.

The hospital wasn't too far from her place. Only a ten-minute bus ride away. It was a rather large building, contrasting to the unoccupied land around it. With a sigh, she entered through the glass revolving doors.

The receptionist, a woman in her late thirties sporting an almond colored bob, greeted her brightly. "Ah, Sakura! Long time no see. How are you doing?"

Sakura smiled, as usual. "I'm doing well, thank you. Enjoy your day, okay?"

"Right!" the lady responded all too brightly, rather, a little too brightly for Sakura's liking.

As soon as the pink haired woman rounded the corner, the smile instantly dropped from her lips. It simply didn't seem like the right moment to smile. She continued to walk with her head down, until walking into the locker room. The staff had been nice enough to lend her a locker earlier in the year. Though, Sakura probably figured it was simply because they had the room to spare.

Upon entering the 'Authorized Personnel Only' door, she caught a figure already sitting on the long bench at the center of the room. She recognized him from her volunteer work during her school year.

Doctor Kamizuki. Age: 34. Special trait: Always wears the same blue hat.

Not really a special trait, Sakura thought, as she recited her usual analysis of everyone she'd come in contact with. However, it was something she could recognize him by.

His dark eyes lit up at the sight of her. "Yo, Sakura! We haven't seen you around in a long time. What brings you all the way here?"

Sakura reached her locker, and with a couple flicks of her wrist, the lock snapped open. "Nothing much, Doctor. I didn't have much to do today. So, might as well stock up on those volunteer hours." She made a motion with her hand, which was a cross between a 'thumbs-up' and a 'leave everything to me' gesture. Only after she'd done so, she realized how weird it must have looked.

She figured she should start up those acting lessons again.

However, it didn't seem like the doctor had taken notice. He simply continued to grin. Actually, maybe she should have changed his special trait to: Always grins when he's about to ask a favor of someone.

"You said you weren't busy, right, Sakura?"

The pink haired woman was hesitant to answer. "Um, yeah?"

"Wanna do me this huge favor?"

She could have seen that one coming.

Five minutes later, she found herself in Doctor Kamizuki's office, which he shared with a couple other of the younger physicians. There was a stack of paper, about thirty centimeters thick pilled on the cluttered desk. What was it about paperwork that made people not want to fill it out when they got it? Surely they knew that it would be fifty times worse if they let it accumulate.

And what was it about doctors and dumping the stupid paperwork on first year med school students anyway?

But, she figured, it was better off to do said work. It gave a reason for the doctors to recommend her when hiring became an option. That is, if she was going to work in her hometown. The thought of staying permanently at Sharingan had crossed her mind several times. However, a certain someone hadn't ever mentioned it. And she sure as hell wasn't going to bring up the subject.

With a shake of her head, she tried to rid her mind of the gravely escalating thoughts. All that really did was toss her already less than perfect pink tresses into her view. "Damn it," she cursed mildly, now all too frustrated to care if her vision was obscured.

And in all that time she'd managed to finish a whopping whole three documents. Now, she figured, only four hundred and seventy seven more to go.

"Hey, Ugly," a familiar voice cooed, causing Sakura to sit up straight in the rolling chair.

She whipped her head around and saw who she expected. Name: Sai. Age: 25. Special trait: The biggest, and bluntest jerk on the face of the planet. He wore his short dark hair gelled down, as always, and had opted (to no surprise) in a tight black shirt and jeans.

"What the hell? It's just you, Sai? Jerk-face," she said jokingly, turning back to her (rather, Doctor Kamizuki's) paperwork.

"Well I'm ecstatic to see you and your forehead too, Ugly." The young man walked over, and placed a hand on the back of Sakura's chair. He leaned over her shoulder and asked: "What are you slaving over?"

Out of the corner of her jade eyes, she noted he was reading over her writing. "Like you can't read. It's Kamizuki's paperwork again. Lazy guy just dumps the stuff on me."

With a tiny chuckle, Sai moved back. After a quick silence, he changed the subject. "It's almost lunch time. Want to take a break?"

She blinked once in his direction. It was rare for Sai to invite anyone anywhere. Must have been something on his mind. "Uh, sure, I guess."

Sakura hadn't known Sai for that long. He was two years her senior, and was going to specialize in therapy through visual art. The two hadn't gotten off to a great start. In fact, she couldn't quite remember how the two had gotten to be… well, friends perhaps wasn't the right word. On better terms was more the idea.

The cafeteria was at the back of the hospital. Thankfully today, it didn't seem too crowded. The two picked out a table. "Stay, I'll get something," he said, giving a smile. Albeit it was fake, it was a smile nonetheless.

Sakura did as she was told, and grabbed a table in the corner. She watched Sai's retreating form for a moment, before turning away. The first time they met, she almost mistook him for Sasuke. The two shared similar features: hair color, eye color, height, and their voices were slightly similar as well. It was quite scary.

But in any case, she preferred not to think about the Uchiha at the moment. While she was still quite fond of him (fond perhaps being an understatement), thinking about him was distracting. Distracting and somewhat unnerving at times too. But that wasn't entirely his fault. He did have a multi-billion dollar corporation to run.

A tray was dropped in front of Sakura's face, causing her to snap out of her trance. She glanced up at Sai, who had brought back a pair of wraps with some sort of fish as the primary filling. "You're spacing out," he commented, sitting opposite her.

She gave a smile back. "I guess. But you know me; I'm always doing that. Thanks for lunch." She didn't hear any reply, but took her wrap and ate quietly. After a moment, she realized the second one hadn't been touched. Gazing up, she found Sai staring back, that usual sly smile apparent on his face.

"What?" she questioned.

"Nothing. I'm just looking," he replied. Somehow, she suspected that his comment had a deeper meaning than she thought, but wasn't about to go around in circles with the man's mind games.

Sakura, in turn, set her food down, and smiled. "Tell me something, Sai." She paused for a moment.

The onyx haired man kept the exact same expression on his face. "And what is that?"

Sakura rested her chin atop her folded hands. "Why is it that you try so hard?"

There was still no change in his façade. "I don't think I know what you mean."

"On the contrary, I think you do. But just for good measure, I mean your smile. It's clearly a front. What's with that?"

Again, his expression never faltered the least. "You're still as clever as ever, I must say, Sakura. But, I can also counter with the same question. Why is your smile fake?"

Sakura continued to smile, making her it was her turn for her façade to remain unchanged. So, he'd noticed. He was the first one. "Don't try to change the subject."

"I didn't change the subject. It's still relevant. It's just directed at someone else, hmm?"

Sakura sighed. It was obvious she wasn't going to get an answer out of Sai unless she said something first. And like hell that was going to happen. "You know what? Forget it. I honestly don't care." Slightly miffed, Sakura grabbed her wrap once more (now she identified it as tuna salad), and stuffed it into her mouth.

After swallowing, and nearly choking on the rest of her meal, she looked up once more. Her lunch date still hadn't touched his food. "Why did you buy two if you aren't going to eat it?"

He reached out a pale finger, nudging the remaining wrap to one end of the plate. "I don't like to eat around other people."

Sakura raised an eyebrow (something she'd gotten good at over the past few years). "So, you bought lunch, basically, to watch me eat."

"If you'd like to put it that way, then yes."

Right. She forgot how weird this man could get. "Listen. What do I owe you?"

He shook his head, and fake smiled again. "Nothing. I invited you."

"I insist," she persisted.

He shrugged. "Well if you insist. I have no use for a significant sum of money, but I had some leftover paperwork sitting on my desk. I think that should cover the cost of lunch."

Sakura was sure Sai was partially glad he was smiling with his eyes closed. Because if not, he'd be seeing the death glare she was giving him. Why had she insisted again?

"Thanks. I love you too, Sai…"

* * *

Sakura had meant to travel back to Sharingan earlier that week. However, every time she'd tried to leave that hospital, someone had shown up to ask for her help. And being the naturally helpful (though she rolled her eyes at this at times) person she was, obliged and promised to be back the next day. 

Though, it wasn't as if they needed her at the moment back at Sharingan anyway. Everyone had their own cases to take care of, just like how it was before she was ever brought by Uchiha Sasuke to the company. Speaking of the devil, she'd heard he had come back already. It was so nice of him to call. (Of course, she scoffed at her own sarcasm.)

Mornings in her house had become rather eerily odd. Her father was still at home. It had now been over a week. She'd wanted to talk to him about things. What things exactly, she didn't know. Anything really. Her father was a complete stranger. Plus, their small dispute had dissipated over the days. However, the two had never gotten passed 'hello' or 'good morning'.

Sakura sighed at her thoughts, as she walked up to the hospital doors. Thank God, it was Friday. Tonight, for sure, she vowed to go back to Sharingan. She'd even arranged the train for ten that evening.

But until then, it was more hospital work for her.

Not that it was all bad. It turned out Sai had nowhere else to be either, and spent most of his time there as well. Surprisingly enough, he was quite the conversationalist, when he wanted to be. Those times usually included when Sakura was trying to concentrate on paperwork, or trying to keep to herself. Come to think of it, she realized, that the only times he was actually quiet was when he was drawing. She would have wanted to know what it was exactly he was sketching every so often, but every time she came around, he slammed the sketchbook shut.

Today, however, Sakura opted for simply asking.

"Sai, what is it exactly that you're drawing?"

Once again, the dark haired man shut his precious pad of paper. He looked up, and smiled (with another of those plastic grins, of course). "Are you interested, Sakura?"

The pink haired woman blinked. Obviously, she was interested, she figured, or she wouldn't have asked. "Uh, yeah?"

"Oh. I was kind of hoping you'd say no," he rubbed the back of his head, mock sheepishly. "But I still can't say."

"Um, why?"

"Because I don't want to."

Honestly, she internally sighed, sometimes everyone around her were nothing more than kids in adult bodies. 'Because I don't want to' sounded like something Naruto, and oddly enough, possibly even Sasuke would say.

Come to think of it, she assumed Sai and Naruto could become friends. It was only her assumption though. She wasn't so sure of Sai and Sasuke though…

In any case, now fed up of Sai's childish ways, she decided to call it a day and head home.

Seeing that it was well before she had to be home, (Sakura had picked up the personal philosophy of not coming home before six in the evening), she decided to visit Ino. The two hadn't spoken since the day Shikamaru had left for his 'mission'. That still sounded quite strange to her. Shikamaru and mission usually didn't fit in the same sentence. Never mind that, but it they also didn't fit in the same paragraph.

So she hopped on the bus, and got off one stop earlier than if she was to go home. On the short walk down the street, Sakura tried to sort out what she was going to say to her long time friend. "Hey, how's it going now that you're a free woman AND a millionaire?"

She paused in her walking.

Somehow, she didn't expect that said sentence to go over very well. Unfortunately, it seemed as if she'd have to wing it at this point, for the familiar Nara household door stood sturdily ahead of her. Inhaling, she brought her fist up to knock on the door.

At first, there was no answer. Sakura didn't expect Ino to be working at the flower shop. Ever since Mikoto was born, she spent most, if not all, of her time at home. And now with Shikamaru gone, she was sure the doting mother would be cooped up all hours of the day.

Sakura opted for the doorbell this time. Perhaps Ino was in the basement, or something. Much to her relief, (because she didn't want to have gone out of her way for nothing) she heard the door unlock.

The pink haired woman was about to greet her friend in quite a cheerful manner, but swallowed her words upon seeing Ino's distraught face. Her baby blue eyes orbs surrounded with irritated-looking lids. Her pale face was lined with dried tear lines.

Sakura had imagined Ino would be a little upset about her new husband leaving for an extended period of time without so much as a phone call, but her face showed emotions more than just 'a little upset'. "Oh, Ino…" Sakura said quietly.

"Ah, it's you, Sakura?" Ino furiously dried a fresh tear that clung to her long eyelashes. "Sorry. Come in, come in."

Sakura obliged silently. Her friend floated deep into the house, seemingly towards the den, as the sound of the television was heard. Slowly following, Sakura wondered how to comfort the blond woman. Having taken a psychology course earlier in her studies, she could classify her friend's state, and knew primarily how to go about it. However, what she was really experiencing, Sakura concluded, was something she couldn't understand.

However, her sympathy for Ino faded the instant she walked into the den. For Ino was curled up on the sofa with a bag of popcorn, watching the old movie Love Story.

"Oh…" Sakura said, with a tiny hint of a sigh, "That's why you're crying."

Ino reached for the remote and paused the movie. "But of course. What else is there to cry over?"

The pink haired woman gave her a knowing look. Ino sighed. "Okay, so Shikamaru's gone for a bit. But who'd cry over that guy? Certainly not me. I'm a free woman, after all."

Sakura really did know her best friend a little too well.

Sakura had managed to convince Ino to set aside the depressing movie (though, it had taken five minutes, the former being forced to hearing arguments such as: But it's only the most romantic movie of all time!) and settle for chatting over a cup of tea.

"So, I don't see Mikoto around anywhere," Sakura commented.

Her friend gripped the sides of her cup, warming her hands. "Yeah. My mother decided it was granddaughter-grandmother bonding day. So, that little child is off my hands for the day."

"You sound relieved."

Ino simply smiled, and then stared at her reflection in her untouched drink. There was a long silence for awhile, before she actually decided on speaking. "Maybe. But… it's a little lonely sometimes."

It was Sakura's turn to look up. "Lonely?"

The blond nodded. "Yes. Mikoto is a sweet kid, but really, staying home without her around it lonely. Plus Shika is gone too…" Ino then shook her head from side to side vigorously. "Wait a minute. What am I saying?"

Sakura felt her chest tighten. It was quite familiar, or at least it had become quite familiar. Loneliness? Is that what the feeling was? "Ino I…"

A familiar ring tone cut the woman off. Giving an apologetic look, Sakura reached into her purse and fished out her cell phone. It was Hyuuga Hinata, once again. In a cheerful voice, Sakura said: "Hey."

There was a pause on the other end. "Uh… Sakura?"

"Yup?"

"I… I hate to b-be the bearer of bad news, b-but there's another situation here…"

This sounded fun, Sakura thought sarcastically. "Yeah? I'm listening."

"W-well… another employee came to the infirmary t-today… saying something about a sore neck… and… um…"

As a medical student (which is probably the only reason Hinata kept informing her in the first place), Sakura could guess where this was going. "Don't tell me…"

"Y-yeah… viral meningitis…"

Sakura covered the phone with one hand, and spoke to Ino. "Apparently there's a little bit of trouble where I work… So, sorry I have to cut this visit short. I'll come by again in a few days, alright?"

The blond smiled. "Anytime. I'm not going far."

Sakura gave a final smile, before bidding farewell and rushing towards the door. "Hinata? You still there? Good, okay. This is what I need you to do…"

* * *

**AN:** My goodness. I'm so glad that chapter's out of the way. Another chapter, another illness. Oh dear. And as I promised last time, I introduced a new character. Our beloved Sai. I'm not so great at his character, as he is rather new to the series (plus he's been MIA for a many chapters now). Oh well. I'll try my best. 

So, as for next time: It's been awhile since our loved Sasuke had made an appearance. Guess he'll just have to wait until then to bless us (and Sakura) with his presence. But you know how first meetings are. They don't exactly run as smoothly as intended.


	4. Just Add Oil

**Starting AN**: Do you know what time it is? I think you do. Exam time! YAY! -pause- Ew. Exams. The fun-ness of it all. Yes, it's what delayed this chapter. And it's still crap. But I tried, which is what's important I guess. You all who've waited patiently are all my heroes. But I've had a few questions regarding this fic so far. Perhaps I'll answer a few now.  
_What's the time difference between The Basics and The Specifics?_ Well, if you count the ages (but I won't make you do that because I mentioned it forever ago, the difference is 5 years.)  
_When is Sasuke finally going to show up?_ Rejoice. This is it.  
_Was Sakura's father always like that?_ Well I did mention him in briefly in the last story, but not much is known about him yet. But yes, he was always like that. But it's another theme in the story so I'm going to leave it at that.  
_Is it a coincidence that Ino's child is called Mikoto?_ When is anything ever a coincidence?  
(I can't answer all the questions. They're going to ruin my fun for this story. So I'll leave it at that for now and let you get on with chapter 4.)

* * *

**Chapter 4  
Just Add Oil**

* * *

"Shut down the entire factory? You're insane. We can't risk losing a whole day's worth of product," the head of marketing, Sarutobi Asuma said, continuing to puff his cigarette. 

Sakura, who was well past patient at this point, could only glare at the higher-up. She'd been frantically barking out instructions since Hinata had called, and frankly, after five hours, she had every right to be fed up. Being the expert, or, more of an expert than most people at Sharingan on the subject of epidemiology, she couldn't understand why people had to contest her, so-to-speak, professional opinion.

"Look, Asuma, the last thing I do is want to hurt the company profits. But I think it would be better to sacrifice that than the lives of workers, hmm? What do you think?"

Sakura saw the wavering expression on the executive's face. Well, with that one now convinced, she assumed no one else would stand in her way. "Alright," Asuma sighed, throwing what was left of his smoke to the floor and stepping on it, "What's needed then?"

Sakura nodded. "Right. Well like I said before, everyone he came in contact with has to be quarantined. That's factory sections L-12 through M-17. Plus, anyone else who was in direct contact with him must also be quarantined."

"How long is that?"

"Five days should suffice."

"Five days? No way. That's way too much—"

"Asuma…" a new voice interrupted. Both people turned to find Uzumaki Naruto standing in the doorway. The blond gave his usual charismatic grin before stepping into the office. "Asuma, I think Sakura knows what she's talking about here. And besides, it's only part of the factory that will be closed. So I think we should all just leave it at that."

The other two in the room looked genuinely surprised. "Naruto…" Sakura started, but was interrupted by her friend's hand, indicating for her not to continue whatever she'd been planning on saying.

Instead, Naruto lead her gently by the small of her back out of the office, speaking while doing so. "Sakura has had a long day. Let's just give her a break, yeah?" The woman nodded somewhat dumbly, or rather, tiredly, in response. Asuma, on the other hand, pulled out another cigarette, saying something along the lines of it reducing his level of stress.

"Poor Sakura," the blond male kept on saying, all while leading her through the labyrinth of offices and cubicles. "She's had such a long day. Ordering people around, dodging possibly fatal illnesses, putting up with crap from almost everyone…"

"Just stop. I don't need to feel any worse than I already am. It's bad enough I have to be lead around like a lost puppy by you," Sakura said sincerely exhausted from her long day. She extended her slender fingers to her temples, further more emphasizing this point.

Naruto made something that resembled a groan, and placed a hand dramatically over his heart. "Oh, how I should feel insulted by this. I'm half used to it by now, but half going to ignore the comment because you're a zombie right now."

It was all rather blurry, from the walk from Asuma's office to Sakura's room. All that had been really on her mind at the moment was sleep. That, and that oh so comfortable bed that rested ever so conveniently in her path.

* * *

Sakura could certainly feel the heaviness of her eyelids upon regaining some sort of consciousness. A bright light from an outside source, however, jolted her out of her semi-vegetative state. And by some amazing phenomenon, she was able to see what was around her the second she revealed those bright emerald orbs. Not that there was much to see, though. 

Glancing from right to left, she saw nothing but white. White walls, tall white ceiling, and her own white clothing. It was at this point, she realized, that it was yet another of those ambiguous dreams she'd been having all too recently. She somewhat congratulated herself on actually identifying her reverie instead of waking up with more cold sweat and rapid heartbeat.

Though, simply knowing this fact made no difference in the fact that her mind was still in control of the surreal world that unfolded before her, bleak as it seemed. All Sakura could do was wait and watch what other omens, so to speak, the dream would bring.

She propped herself up from her lying position on the white padded floor. Now sitting fully upright, she noticed a rather large window against one of the walls. Not knowing what else to do, she got to her feet and bounded over to the glass. Pressing her nose against the pane, she tried to look for anyone that was outside the strange bleached room.

At first, there was no one in sight. With a little more waiting, she caught a glimpse of a woman, hunched over a pile of papers clutched to her torso. Sakura vaguely recognized her as one of the many employees of Sharingan. She tapped on the glass, trying to get the woman's attention. Unfortunately for Sakura, the petite woman was too preoccupied in studying her papers than to notice a helpless person stuck in a fragment-of-the-imagination room.

The more time that passed, more people from her life had passed through the window. For the most part, they were simply people whom she'd seen on more than one occasion, but nothing more than that. After awhile, the faces became more and more familiar.

Sakura's talk with Ino earlier than day had certainly enlightened her slightly. Yet, it was slightly frustrating knowing the cause of one's discomfort and not quite knowing what to do about it. It was at times like these Sakura half wished she'd taken up psychology in school.

When a group of her friends (how did Ino and Shikamaru end up talking and laughing alongside Tenten, Neji and Naruto?) passed by, Sakura couldn't help but pound her clenched fist as hard as she could against the glass. "I get it!" she yelled to herself, knowing fully that she was the only one who could hear, or care in any case. "I get it! I get it that I'm feeling a little lonely. What does anyone expect me to do about it, huh?"

Sakura didn't know how any door suddenly materialized in the strange room. Not that she was sure there really was any door, since her face was still plastered to the windowpane. Only the voice of someone somewhat familiar (though she couldn't put her finger on who it was) had spoken.

"Maybe not doing anything about it is what's eating you, hmm?"

Sakura didn't even have time to turn around to identify the voice. For the second she blinked, all was not white anymore. Rather, it looked strangely like her room at Sharingan.

In fact, it took her a few moments to realize that, indeed, it was her room. Though she assumed she was no longer dreaming, since the clock on her nightstand flashed what she supposed was the right time of day, judging by her window.

And everything felt real. At least, that much more real than that fictional white room she'd dreamed up. Sakura combed her fingers through her lengthy rose hair, and sat up facing the back wall of her room. She supposed she should go back to the infirmary and check up upon the currently recovering meningitis patient. Or perhaps see if any new cases had broken out within the quarantined employees. So much to do, so little time, as the saying went.

Though, a small and barely audible noise froze her thoughts instantly. Her heart rate rose so quickly it clogged her ears with its thumping. And, she reminded herself, that this was not a dream. Ever so slowly, Sakura turned her head.

Standing tall and proud, with his usual impassive façade, his usual unruly raven hair, and usual onyx stone eyes, was Uchiha Sasuke in the flesh. At first, the two gazed wordlessly at one another, exchanging nothing more than just a stare. Swallowing the lump in her throat that had just recently formed, Sakura decided that if any words were going to be spoken, it was she that would have to initiate any sort of communication.

There were about five million things she could have said, wanted to say. Unfortunately, her choice of words had come out a little colder than she'd first intended. "What are you doing here?"

For anyone who knew Uchiha Sasuke as well as Sakura, or anyone else who was part of the investigation team at Sharingan knew, if you spoke coldly to him, he'd give you a reply equally as bitter with his sharp tongue. "I have a right to be anywhere I so choose. You of all people should know that."

Well, Sakura mused, their first meeting in almost a year was heading off to a frosty and curt start. Letting out a sigh, she quickly tried to resolve the tension. "Look, that's not what I meant…"

"Oh really. Then do explain. And it'd better be quick but thorough because I've still got work to do because of this disease scare."

Sakura's usual soft face turned into a hard frown. "Sasuke, if you think you're doing me a favor by visiting me then get going. Yay, it's nice to see you too after a year, but if you're going to come with attitude I'd rather not see you at all."

Still somewhat childishly, though it was mostly just out of stubbornness and pride, the Uchiha refuted: "You're the one who started this!"

Sakura turned away from Sasuke, once again facing the wall. "You have things to do. I have things to do. So, you know, just for now, just go away."

Silence filled the room once again. This time, it was a lot longer before anyone broke it. In fact, what did rupture the atmosphere was the closing of a door. Once again glancing back, Sakura noted that Sasuke had left.

Exhaling, Sakura couldn't help but think how much of a disaster that meeting had been. They were both equally edgy, for their own reasons, and simply had chosen each other as a person who'd receive their wrath. And the gut wrenching feeling Sakura had at the pit of her stomach really did assure her that the meeting certainly was real.

She could tell already that it would not be a very good day.

* * *

It was always a good idea to stay out of the path of an Uchiha upon discovering that said person was incensed. When said person slammed the giant mahogany door to his office, it was pretty clear that he was indeed in one of these moods. 

Of course, there were no offices on the same floor to hear this directly. However, when certain employees could hear the crash from the story below, it usually was a good indication of these foul moods their president could have.

Unfortunately, the life of the president was never full of leisure time, (therefore meaning there was no time for sulking). An unlucky secretary was chosen to relay a small amount of bad news. The petite woman pushed up her glasses with one hand, and with a quivering fist, knocked on the large wooden door.

After a slight pause, there was the cool voice of Sharingan's president. "Enter."

Swallowing, the secretary looked behind her at the woman whom had accompanied her. "It's alright, just go in," Tsunade coaxed, giving her a tiny push forward.

Sasuke looked up at the two women who entered his office. "What's this about?" he asked, getting right to the point.

The Uchiha hadn't used a harsh tone, but rather the opposite. It was unusually calm. This scared the already frightened secretary even more, to the point of shaking. Tsunade, out of the corner of her eye, noticed this, and decided to say something about it. "Sasuke, what's wrong?"

Both women could have sworn the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees. "Nothing's wrong."

"What happened, Sasuke?"

"Nothing happened!"

And, Tsunade decided that was the end of that conversation. "If you say so, Mr. President. So we'll leave as soon as we're finished our business. Now, Ms. Umeda, if you will."

The petite secretary bowed quickly and speedily spewed out her message. "That man called again earlier."

Sasuke, who was rearranging some files in the bottom drawer of his large desk paused for a moment. But only a moment. Then he continued his task. "So block the number," he said.

"Be reasonable, Sir. There's only so many numbers we can block. And he calls from a different one every time," Umeda explained.

"Sasuke, you can't deny that this is becoming a problem. And one day we're going to have to do something other than ignoring," the blond vice-president stated, folding her arms across her broad chest.

It was at that convenient moment at which the phone chose to ring. The president gave a stern look to his secretary. The spectacled woman held up her hands in defense. "I didn't set it to place calls through!"

In any case, the three people in the room went silent, listening to the speaker-phone voice mail. There seemed to be a small amount of white noise, but then silence. After that small lapse of time, a snakelike and devious voice began to speak. "You all must be getting very tired of me. I know I'm getting very tired of getting a recorded machine."

"Speak of the devil…" Tsunade said with a frown. Umeda simply tensed up even more than she already had, and the Uchiha had curled up his hands into tight fists.

"But, I guess a busy company has no time to talk to someone like me directly. It's unfortunate, though, seeing as how I've offered the most enticing business proposition. But you already know that.

"I've simply called again to remind you of this fact—my offer still stands. I've also heard some interesting news that might interest a few of you. I know namely President Uchiha. Just recently, I've had a team of individuals who've come back from investigating matters regarding the Akatsuki. I'd be happy to discuss anything I know on the subject at any time."

Tsunade noticed a fault in Sasuke's frown at the mention of the Akatsuki. In fact, she could have sworn he'd uncrossed his arms to pick up the phone. "Don't you dare answer, Uchiha," the vice president warned in a warning tone.

Sasuke retracted his hand, which had only moved forward an inch.

"I hope for the best in terms of your cooperation. You know how to contact me. I expect to hear from you soon."

After that, the line went dead.

Tsunade stared at Sasuke. Sasuke stared back, and poor Ms. Umeda was left quivering in place, shifting her eyes back and forth. The room was deadly silent, until the Vice President decided to speak once more.

"Well, I think that settles our small discussion for now," Tsunade said, with a rather uncomfortable sigh. She stole another glance at the President, who still looked rather undecided about something. "Come, Ms. Umeda, get back to work. Oh, and Sasuke. Don't do anything you'll regret. Orochimaru is not someone you can go up against alone."

The Uchiha said nothing in return, just watched both women leave as fast as they'd come. Once the door was shut, he slumped back into his large leather chair (he hadn't realized he'd been standing ever since the phone rang). What a mess, he thought, watching his hand curl into a fist. Between both Orochimaru's strange offers and the deal with the Akatsuki, he didn't know how long it'd be before something happened. And at the moment, it certainly didn't feel like anything good.

* * *

Sakura sat on her bed, her legs drawn up close to her chest. She rested her head on her knees. It was dark in her room, but she didn't want to bother turning on any lights. The darkness just seemed to reflect her messy situation she'd gotten herself into. 

She wasn't quite sure how it happened either. The weird mood definitely had its roots implanted the previous day, after her small argument with Sasuke. After that, she decided she couldn't stand waiting around at Sharingan, especially if she'd risk running into the Uchiha too soon, and took it upon herself to go back home for a day or so.

There lay the beginning of her problem—though she didn't realize this at first.

Instead of bothering Ino once again (since she figured that'd be too soon), she opted for once again taking up a variety of odd-jobs back at the hospital. It was already late by that point, but she figured might as well take a short evening shift.

And, of course, she always managed to find Doctor Kamizuki, who always managed to find unfinished work for her to fill out or file. She swore, when she was a fully licensed physician, all the work was going to be dumped on the first year students. She inwardly laughed mechanically at this thought.

Well, at least it was supposed to be internally. However, as someone pointed out, it had come out aloud. "I kind of don't want to ask about what cruel and sadistic thoughts you're having," a voice said from behind.

Unburying her head from the pile of paperwork, Sakura found Sai leaning against the doorframe.

"It's probably a good thing if you don't. Anyway, what are you doing here so late?"

The dark haired male simply shrugged. "I could ask you the same question."

With a mock frown, Sakura countered childishly with, "Well I asked you first."

Sai chuckled at this. He made a motion with his head. "Come, the late hour is probably messing with that already ugly head of yours." There was no movement from Sakura, who glowered at the ugly head comment. So for good measure, he added: "My treat."

That was all the motivation she needed (she'd let the ugly comment slide, for now), and not long after, the two students found themselves opposite each other at a late-hours café just down the street from the hospital.

Sakura stared down into her piping hot coffee, watching the steam rise and disappear into the air. Her hands rested on the outside, taking in the cup's warmth. Without looking at the dark haired man accompanying her, she began to speak. "It's weird. This is the second time you've taken me out this week. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you seem to actually like me, or something."

Sai didn't answer for awhile. His eyes glanced out the window, looking at nothing in particular on the dark street. "What I understand is that you seem a little off. There's something wrong." It was not a question. He'd stated a fact.

"Hmm. I guess so. But there's no one in the world without their share of problems. It's a part of life, just learning to deal with the crap that's given to you at times."

Both practitioners-in-training sat in more silence, only the quiet hum of conversation moving through one ear and out the other. They kept their glances in different directions. It had the rather awkward-first-date atmosphere, though neither person was quite sure why.

It was Sai who surprisingly broke the hush between them. "Did you want to talk about it?"

Sakura finally decided to look her companion in the eye, though it was a semi-amused look, rather than something serious. "You're an art therapist, not a psychiatrist."

"Sometimes it seems like there's not much of a difference."

This made the pink haired woman chuckle, and she went back to watching the steam of her coffee twist into various abstract forms. There was more silence, but it was not as lengthy as last time. Before she knew it, Sakura had started to speak. "It's really weird. I keep having these dreams, and at first I couldn't figure out what the heck my problem was. Maybe the lack of sleep was getting to me, or something. I don't know. But later I was able to figure out what was bothering me so much."

There was another pause. Sai didn't move, nor did he speak. He simply waited for the girl to continue. Sakura looked over, a glint present in her emerald colored eyes. "Loneliness," she said slowly. "I was, and still am, surrounded by people every day. Friends, family, coworkers. It doesn't matter. And it's weird too. Because I really don't feel lonely at all. I'm starting to think something really is wrong with me."

Sakura began to laugh slightly at herself. Sai glanced out the shop window once again. "It's possible for someone to be lonely even when they're surrounded by people who like them." The dark eyed man shifted his gaze back to the woman sitting opposite him. He gave her cup a little nudge, temporarily breaking her trance. "Who have you told? About you being lonely, I mean."

"I told you."

He assumed this meant she'd informed no one else. "Well now that you've told me, what are you going to do about it?"

Sakura glanced back down. The steam seemed to be the only remotely interesting thing around. "I don't know. I don't know if I can do anything about it. This whole thing is kind of making me feel really lazy."

"Maybe not doing anything about it is what's eating you, hmm?"

Green eyes widened. She lifted her head sharply, pink hair flying in a few directions. That line… that line. She recognized it from her latest dream. "Sai…"

Eyes now fixed on the man, she watched him move from his seat and slide onto the bench next to her. Then she continued to watch, as his pale face moved closer to hers. Once it was mere inches from her own, he answered with a quiet: "What?"

Words caught in her throat, she ended up not being able to respond to his short question. She knew what was coming, and closed her eyes instinctively. There was no surprise when she felt another mouth clamp over hers.

There was a tight feeling in Sakura's chest. She ignored it for the moment, seemingly all rational thoughts fleeing from her brain at that moment. In response to the fact Sai had leaned in closer, somewhat making their touching of lips into that of a real kiss, she placed a pale, shaking hand up to his face. There, at that moment, only one thought came to her mind. Sasuke…

Once her hand had touched the face of her partner, all thoughts came back. She hadn't been kissing Sasuke at all. She pulled away from Sai rather quickly, staring at him with rather frightened eyes. Not scared of him—but rather her actions.

Sakura wasn't sure if she mumbled an 'I'm sorry' before she ran out of the coffee shop. And she ran for awhile, not stopping until she'd reached the safety of the four walls of her room (which had been quite a distance). Tears had long ago sprung and disappeared.

All that was left was blank.

And so she sat, knees to her chest, head to her knees. She could feel the stabbing pain of the invisible knife that was slowly tearing through her abdomen.

But she'd realized something, sitting in the dark. The feeling of guilt was infinitely times worse than that of loneliness.

* * *

**AN:** Hopefully that last section was clear enough to understand. If not, yeah, totally my fault. My writing has been going downhill this year, sadly enough. All the school work got to my brain. 

And yeah, what can I say. I'm evil. I admit it. -bows apologetically- So, after exams, hopefully I can spend a little more time writing, though I am working so we'll see how that goes. I hope you all can wait for yet one more chapter before I actually get into the action of this story. I'm sure you can. I believe in you guys.

So next time: What are Sai's true intentions? Will this cause even more problems for Sakura and Sasuke in their already shaky relationship? And a new break: news from Shikamaru.


	5. Proof

**Starting AN:** Yes, I do realize I'm the world's most horrible author for putting this on hiatus through the entire summer. I have to sigh. I hardly have any time for myself at the moment, plus I'm lacking inspiration. (All this equals and extra late and crappy chapter.)

* * *

**Chapter 5  
Proof**

* * *

"Sasuke!" an ever-so familiar blonde boy called out. Naruto bounded right alongside his long-time friend, whom thought it best to fully ignore the child-like adult at the moment. This simply caused Naruto to contort his face into another one of those crazy expressions. "Sasuke? Hey, are you listening to me? Sasuke! Sasuke… Sa-su-ke. Saaaasuke…" 

The Uchiha stopped in mid step and turned to face the man who was so bent on annoying the hell out of him. "Can you please to the world a favor and stay quiet for five minutes of your life?" That being said, Sasuke continued his journey up to his office.

Well, anyone who was anyone in the Uzumaki's opinion (meaning whoever knew him), surely knew it took more than just a subtle 'go away' to shake him off. So, going along with his predictable behavior, Naruto continued his never-ending string of questions. "So Sasuke, have you seen Sakura around? There's this party going on downstairs in the cafeteria tonight and man, I'm going to look my best. But so says Kiba, I need some help with my styling. Sakura's really good at that aesthetic crap. I am in desperate need! I can't have that mutt-head show me up! God, that will be the end of me if that happens!" There was a moment of silence once Naruto was finished his rant.

"You do realize I couldn't care less, right?"

The blonde put a fist to the left side of his chest. "That hurts. Right here, man." The two stepped off the elevator and onto the single office floor. "But seriously. I haven't seen her around in twenty-four hours. You think she left without telling anyone again?"

Sasuke's onyx eyes shifted towards the slightly shorter Naruto, then back ahead of him again. "I'm not her keeper. She can do whatever she pleases."

Naruto frowned. He let his friend into the office before following momentarily after. "Dude, you totally wouldn't have said that a few years ago. What the hell's been on your mind lately?"

The Uchiha seated himself on the over-sized leather chair behind his desk, and brushed some non-existent dust of its gleaming surface. He chose to ignore the question, and began to sift through some papers he'd been meaning to look at. Naruto cleared his throat, indicating he was expecting an answer. "I run an entire corporation myself; I have a lot of things on my mind."

The blonde sighed, running a hand through his unruly locks. "Damnit, this is what I worry about. Bro, you are totally one of those stereotypical workaholic dimbulbs that pile themselves behind papers until they kill themselves." Saskue looked up, giving one of his knowing looks. Naruto rubbed the back of his head and continued quickly. "Not that I expect you to commit suicide or something. I'm just saying. Alright, so I'm not getting my message across again but—"

He was cut off by a garbled noise that had begun emitting from the speakerphone. Both males gazed intently on the device's strange functioning, until actual coherent words were heard. "Hello Mr. President. It's me again. I've called to express my condolences about the latest victims to the diseases that seem to keep plaguing your corporation. You know, I have this one person in my contact books that is this superb doctor, specializing in—"

Neither of the two managed to hear the rest of the phone call, as Sasuke had pulled out the phone cord. He gave an irritable sigh, and continued reading over his papers.

Naruto looked from the now-destroyed phone cord back to his friend. It didn't take a rocket scientist to see the connection. "Oh. So that's it. That bastard Orochimaru's been bothering you a lot lately hmm? Seriously, I can't believe we haven't found him yet. He's probably got the best people to cover his tracks and…"

"Naruto!"

"Right. Sorry. That's not helping. You know what, though? Don't sweat it so much. There'll be a break in this nonsense soon enough and everything will be fine. You know what you need? A break. Do you remember what a break is?"

Sasuke sighed. Maybe there was a little truth in his friend's words. "Yes, I do remember what that is."

"Good. At least that's a start. Now, why don't you go find Sakura and take her out to dinner or something? It'll be a breather for both of you."

"I'll pass."

It was Naruto's turn to let out a weight-of-the-world sigh. "Come on. You need humanoid contact. Mainly female. It's good to keep the hormones flowing at times. What, you two didn't have a fight or something, did you?" There was simply silence for the next little moment, where Sasuke was expect to answer with an 'oh, of course not' (which never came). "Dude. You suck. How could you fight with her?"

Now at the edge of his patience, Sasuke set aside his paperwork and stared his friend down. "You're in no position to ask that. You're questioning my judgment. I know what I'm doing." That being said, he rose from his chair, and strode across and out of his office.

"Man, I sure hope so," Naruto said to the empty room. He walked over to the large mahogany desk, and pulled open one of the drawers. In it lay a new phone cord. He connected it quickly and tossed out the damaged one.

* * *

"What to do today?" Sakura asked to the walls of her room. She tossed her getting-rather-lengthy pink hair behind her shoulders and grabbed a matching purse from the closet. She did a quick twirl in front of the mirror, and gave a nod to her reflection. 

She hopped downstairs. There she found an interesting sight. Her mother was fast asleep on the couch, a thin blanket draped over her thin body. 'Strange,' Sakura thought, 'why didn't she just go to bed?' Perhaps she'd just been completely drained and ended up flaking out on the most comfortable surface within five steps of the front door. Then where had the blanket come from?

She stepped off the final step, which was located right beside the kitchen. She had happened to glance inside, and then quickly glued her back to the wall of the stairwell. Her father had his back turned at the time, hovering over the counter. She had no intention of dealing with him at the moment, and was thankful he hadn't noticed her presence.

Using her stealth that she'd acquired over the number of years, Sakura soundlessly shuffled by the kitchen and towards the front door. With the same quietness, she slipped on the closest pair of shoes, and left her house.

She hurried out of her yard and down the street before resuming a normal pace. There she let out a breath of relief and went into thought. 'Surely my father didn't put that blanket there. He's never showed any sort of compassion towards Mom and me, from what I can remember.'

She made a tiny 'tch' sound, and let her feet wander to no spot in particular. Before she knew it, they had brought her to the hospital doors. It seemed as if it was the only place that needed her. She entered the sliding doors and looked around. It seemed busier than usual, with a whole bunch of citizens milling around.

She decided her first stop would be the intern locker room, located on the floor below. She began to head for the stairs, until she noticed a certain someone coming in the opposite direction. Her heart instantly began to slam against her rib cage. Sai.

Sakura turned on her heel and opted for hiding behind a pillar. If she was noticed or not, she didn't know, but was betting on the fact that there were so many people about that he wouldn't have noticed.

After a few moments of waiting, a thought hit her. 'Wait… what am I doing? I'm not like some school-girl hiding from her crush, or something. I don't even like the guy. What happened yesterday… well I'll forget about it for now. I have to be professional about this.' Giving herself a silent and quick chant of luck, she removed herself from her hiding spot. Head up high, she headed towards the stairs.

"Sakura?" she head Sai's voice call out. Darn. She was hoping he'd gone about his business.

She turned around quickly, her pink hair hitting her face. But she gave a smile anyway. "Sai! Hey, what's up?"

The dark haired man shrugged and placed a hand on his head. "Just finished sitting in on a small therapy session in the trauma ward. I'm taking a break. Did you want to join me for coffee in the cafeteria or something?"

Sakura wanted to decline, knowing how that situation ended the last time around. However, she didn't remember agreeing either, but nevertheless, she sat at an empty table, waiting for Sai to fetch their cups from the vending machine.

He returned a moment later, and placed the paper cup down in front of her. She mumbled a 'thank you', and began to sip the caffeine-infested drink. They sat in awkward silence; it always seemed to be this way when they got together. Though, it was pretty obvious for the both of them to figure out what the other was thinking at this particular moment.

Knowing that Sai wasn't the likely party to start up the conversation, Sakura took on that liberty. "Look, Sai, what happened last night… well…"

Sakura didn't quite understand what was so funny about her few words, but she'd stopped when Sai began to chuckle. "You're still dwelling on that, hmm?"

She immediately got defensive, and her cheeks turned a pinkish tint. "No! Well, it depends what you mean by 'dwelling'. I just want to clear something up."

Giving a half smile, half smirk, Sai reached out his pale hand, and placed it underneath the girl's chin. "What? Want to tell me how much you enjoyed yesterday?" Sakura shrunk back into her chair, backing up enough so that the hand was no longer anywhere near her face. He let out another chuckle once again.

"No. I'm trying to be serious here, unlike someone. Please just listen to me for a second."

"You don't like me."

Sakura blinked, and stared back at Sai. He'd dropped that fake smile, and replaced it with his blank look. He was always dead on with these kinds of things. However, Sakura hadn't intended on saying things with such bluntness. "Oh… Sai, wait, I don't mean…"

As if not hearing her, he continued. "But you know, that's alright. I don't like you either."

"What I meant—wait. You don't?"

"Nope. Not at all."

There was another long silence. During that time, Sai simply just looked on amusingly as Sakura's facial expressions changed every so often. Puzzlement, uncertainty, anger, disbelief. What was there to say in response to that? "Um, alright… great?"

Sai gave a small and quiet laugh to himself, and shifted his gaze to somewhere behind Sakura. "I can't really explain my actions earlier. Maybe I just wanted to know what it felt like to kiss Sakura. But you've been acting unusually lately. And like I said, despite the fact I'm doing art therapy, I do understand the human psyche."

The girl blinked, processing the words. She was still quite uncertain of what had just happened. However, she had managed to figure out that Sai was simply worried on her behalf. Only, he had a strange way of showing it. Very strange. "Is that you're way of saying I can come talk to you about my problems?"

"Is it?"

There it was again. Sakura once again felt like punching the guy. Sort of like how she usually felt. Perhaps by talking to Sai, it really had made her feel better. With a cross between a laugh and a sigh, Sakura managed to come up with one word. "Thanks."

The main reason why her reply had only been a word long was the fact that another person had begun calling her name. Both pairs of eyes looking in the direction of the voice, and found Yamanaka Ino racing over. She was waving around a slip of paper.

"Sakura! Sakura! Guess what, I have the greatest news ever!" the blond then noticed Sai, and gave a quick apologetic nod. "Sorry, that's a little rude of me. I didn't know you were busy."

Sai simply gave another fake-smile. "It's not a bother, Miss Beautiful. We were just finishing up."

Ino had blushed at the nickname she'd just received, but it was Sakura who spoke next. "Hey, easy there Tiger. This one's already married. Now shoo you prick. I'll see you later." She gave a smile and waved, while the dark haired man looked as if he wanted to childishly stick his tongue out in process. However, that would have been horrendously out of character, so Sai simply substituted it with a wave of his own and went on his way.

When he was gone, Ino spoke again. "Oh wow. Was he the 'Midnight Romance' guy?"

Sakura snapped her head back (for she was the one who had childishly stuck out her tongue at his back). "Sai? Ew, no. He's just a coworker."

Needless to say Ino didn't look thoroughly convinced, but decided to go back to what she'd been saying earlier. "Whatever. Anyway. Good news. Today I got an email from Shika! Look, look!" Ino pointed repeatedly to the sheet of paper she'd printed from the computer. "I'm so glad he wrote. He says life's boring, which means everything's going well, and that he doesn't miss the noise, which really means that he misses Mikoto and I super huge ton."

Or, Sakura figured, he really didn't miss the noise. Though, she decided to keep that opinion to herself. Instead, she simply smiled and replied, "That's great Ino. At least he hasn't run off with another woman yet, since he's courteous enough to write you."

Ino's face immediately turned cold. "If he dared to cheat on me, he knows he'd be castrated." Sakura blinked a couple times, wondering if her friend was joking. It didn't really seem that way. "Anyway, I didn't come to talk about myself. Well, not fully. There's a part here for you too. I don't really understand it but whatever."

Sakura took one of the sheets of paper from her friend. On it lay a few simple sentences.

_Give this part to Sakura: I have an appointment. Check your schedule._

The pink haired girl stared at the page for a little while longer. "I have an appointment?" she read aloud. 

Ino shrugged. "He's a little strange. Look, I'd love to help you figure it out, but this kind of stuff just isn't my style. And Mikoto is probably getting fed up with daycare again, so I'll bring her home to, I don't know, build a motor or something. If you ever figure the thing out, call me. Maybe I'll start understanding my husband a little better when I can decipher what he writes."

And as abruptly as Ino had come, she left with the same haste.

Sakura didn't feel much like sitting like a loner in a hospital cafeteria and decided it was her time to leave as well. All the while, she stared at Shikamaru's message. Why did it seem like she was missing something?

About half way between the hospital and her house, it hit her. She turned on her heel and ran toward the train station.

* * *

The phrase had been locked away in her memory for some time. Mainly because since those old times (old being about five years back), she hadn't had a reason to remember it. Back in her high school days when she and Shikamaru ran the information club, the phrase had been a part of their overly long password. 

So, simply translated, it meant he had something for her. Checking the schedule was probably literal rather than some kind of metaphor, so she ran back to the train station and hopped on the train back to Sharingan. She'd been lucky one was there when she arrived. Some poor employee was going to be missing their lift. Oh well. Sakura knew it was for the greater good of the company.

Now back in her room (a good couple hours later, of course), she removed the computer from her closet chock full of worn and unworn clothes. She cursed the creators of computers to having them take so long to start up. The anxious teen was back in her spirits. In a way, it felt refreshing.

Once her laptop was ready, she opened up her virtual agenda. Under the previous day's date, she found a message in the 11 PM time slot. It had a hyperlink with a few words beside it.

_Don't know how much use this is to you. People here seem to like it though. Hopefully they don't mind if you use it._

Rubbing her hands together excitedly, Sakura clicked on the hyperlink. It brought her to a dull-looking SFTP site. None of the folders were named, simply numbered in order. She clicked on the first one, and the expected password box came up. As usual, she used Shikamaru's trusty code, which had yet to fail. 

The contents of the folder were rather dull. She skimmed through what looked to be telephone logs. Some were from the same number, yet most were different, and looked as if they'd come from different parts of the world.

Sakura wondered why he'd put that in. However, knowing Shikamaru, he'd probably want her to do some deciphering on her own. It was, simply put, too much effort to show the conclusions.

The second folder, much like the first, were simply a bunch of IP addresses. Perhaps she'd gotten her hopes up. She'd really hoped that someone inside the Akatsuki would have access to several sources that would help the people of Sharingan. So far, that dream seemed to be slowly deteriorating.

The third folder contained only an executable file. Right underneath the link, Shikamaru, or whoever had put the directory together, had left a set of brief instructions: Enter number or IP address.

Sakura lazily opened up the application, which turned out to be a simple white box with space for text. Maybe she'd humor the author of the program and enter in one of the telephone numbers from the first folder. When Sakura entered the number, another small information box popped up, giving the latitude and longitude of the location of the call.

'Well that's nifty, if you ever wanted to stalk anyone,' Sakura thought dryly, and entered the second number on the list. Much like the first one, the coordinates of the call location materialized. At first she didn't think much of it, but right before closing it, she did a double take. Those coordinates looked strangely familiar.

Sitting up straighter on her chair, she began to enter the next few numbers (and IP addresses as well) into, what she now called, the stalker-application-of-doom. After going through what Sakura considered a fair percentage of the lists, she came to one firm conclusion; all of the calls and emails were sent from the exact same location.

Well, she thought in a somewhat frustrated manner, perhaps Shikamaru could have mentioned that somewhere, instead of having her sift through two long pages of seemingly useless information.

The next page looked much like the employee roster of Sharingan she kept safely on her computer. There were no pictures, just a few employee names, their job descriptions, and some background information. If she was following this pattern that was starting to make itself known, she assumed that all these people were actually just aliases of one person.

The next folder seemed to be a sort of miscellaneous area for other pieces of small facts. Small little snippets of company financials, and little blurbs on the CEOs. Skimming though some of them quickly, one name jumped out at her.

_Orochimaru._

She frowned. Hadn't that been the name of that pesky person always finding ways to call straight to Sasuke's office? Of course she was always going in and out, and didn't know much about his intentions; though, it was clear, it wasn't anything good. 

Sakura continued scrolling through the pieces of information. So, the Akatsuki was investigating Orochimaru as well. She wondered why. He must have been something special (meaning serious bad news) if they were looking into his corporation.

At the very bottom of the miscellaneous folder were a few of picture files. They were rather low quality, as if they were taken by some camera that had been hidden in glasses. Or something of the sort. The first picture was that of a small café. Perhaps this was a meeting point, as the next picture had a man with light brown hair in the center of the screen. The third picture was a close-up of the man's face, as if he were sitting across from whoever had been taking the pictures.

Sakura began to study it, memorizing every detail she could retain about the picture. Ocher hair, slim face (no more than 25 years old?), deep brown eyes, slightly hidden by gleaming glasses…

Wait.

Sakura sat up straighter, if that was possible, and then leaned closer to the screen. Something had the bells and whistles in her head going into overdrive. She had seen this person before. Scrunching her eyes tightly, she went through, one by one, all the people she'd ever had a conversation with. Photographic memory could be useful sometimes.

After a moment, she snapper her emerald eyes back open, and stood up from her chair as if electrocuted. "I know where I've seen him. Son of a bitch."

* * *

**AN**: Yes, I do realize it's a cliffhanger. I have to apologize beforehand, however. I don't know when the next chapter will be coming. I need to find sufficient time, and like I said earlier, something to inspire me. Hopefully it'll come soon because this is just depressing. -does long sigh-. Anyway, any comments on this chapter, as usual, is greatly appreciated.  



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